1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to maintenance accessories and, more particularly, to a tray attachment adapted for placement on a tire with a spring loaded locking mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A well known issue for automobile mechanics and others who work on vehicles, particularly under the hood (generally referred to herein as “mechanics”), is that there is generally no place to keep tools during the course of such work. When tools are attempted to be kept within arms reach, it is not uncommon for them to fall into the engine block or other hard to reach area in the vehicle. On the other hand, if the tools are kept in a tool box positioned nearby on a floor or shelf, the mechanic may end up wasting time by being forced to repeated stop work and walk over to the nearby tool box to retrieve desired.
As such, there remains a need for a tire attachable tool tray would provide a selectively deployable shelf suitable to hold tools within arms reach of one working under a vehicle's hood. It would be helpful if such a tire attachable tool tray included a spring loaded locking mechanism which enables the tray to be selectively set in a fixed position so as to prevent tools from sliding off. It would be additionally desirable for such a tire attachable tool tray to include a handle which was integrated with the locking mechanism to allow a user to easily set and release the lock.
The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a tire attachable tool tray adapted to allow a user to selectively deploy a fixed tool shelf on the tire of a vehicle. The primary components in Applicant's tire attachable tool tray are a shelf section, a locking plate, a support plate, and a locking mechanism. When in operation, the tire attachable tool tray enables a user to store tools desired to be used while working under a vehicle hood on a sold, flat surface that is generally within arms reach. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by prior art structures are removed.